Former Asante Kotoko duo Saddick Adams and Fatawu Safiu have lambasted the club for fielding ten players during the first half of their 1-0 loss against Aduana Stars in Week 11 of the Ghana Premier League on Wednesday.
Fans of the Ghanaian top-flight league were left bemused after the top liner for the Week 11 an unusual scene as Aduana Stars and Asante Kotoko played with 10 players in the first half.
The norm is to have two playing clubs field 11 players at the start of a match. But these two big clubs had different ideas.
Reports from the benches said, before kickoff, that Aduana’s Farouk Adams and Kotoko’s Martin Antwi had sustained knocks and required treatment.
Their treatment seemed to be delaying the start, so referee Alphonso Atiapah decided to get things underway. Per association football rules a team is required to field a minimum of seven players.
Strangely, after receiving treatment, none of the two still came onto the pitch first – a move that is reported to have been borne out of superstition.
According to grapevine sources, the superstitious instructions were that the team whose player entered the pitch first would lose.
The teams completed the first half with 10 men each, and the score was goalless. In the second half, the two players finally made their way onto the pitch.
The Fire Boys went on to win the game via Samuel Bioh’s 94th minute strike.
Adams and Fatawu added their voices to the obsolete tactic deployed by the club
